List of firsts for aviation in Australia or for Australian aviators.
Year | Date | Event | Location | Plane | Aviator(s) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1917 | 1917-03-20 | Victoria Cross for Australian Aviator[1] | Gaza | B.E.2c | Frank McNamara (VC) |
1919 | 1919-12-10 | England to Australia[2] | Hounslow to Darwin | Vickers Vimy | Keith Smith, Ross Smith |
1928 | 1928-02-22 | England to Australia, solo[3] | Croydon Airport to Darwin | Avro Avian | Bert Hinkler |
1928 | 1928-06-09 | North America to Australia[4] | Oakland to Brisbane | Fokker F.VII | Charles Kingsford Smith, Charles Ulm, James Warner, Harry Lyon |
1928 | 1928-09-11 | Australia to New Zealand[5] | Richmond, New South Wales to Christchurch | Fokker F.VII | Charles Kingsford Smith, Charles Ulm, Harold Litchfield, Thomas H. McWilliams |
1928 | 1928-12-20 | Antarctic Continent, first flight over[6] | Deception Island to Deception Island | Lockheed Vega | Hubert Wilkins |
1930 | 1930-05-24 | England to Australia, solo, female[7] | Croydon Airport to Darwin | Gipsy Moth | Amy Johnson |
1930 | 1930-07-04 | Circumnavigation of Earth, via Australia[8] | Oakland, California to Oakland, California, flying west | Fokker F.VII | Charles Kingsford Smith, Charles Ulm |
1931 | 1931-01-07 | Australia to New Zealand, solo[9] | Sydney Airport to Hari Hari, Westland | Avro Avian | Guy Menzies |
1937 | 1937-08-18 | Australia to South Africa, solo via Asia[10] | Archerfield to Cape Town | Klemm Kl 32 | Maude Bonney |
1948 | 1948-11-20 | Australia to South Africa, via Indian Ocean[11] | Sydney Airport to Palmietfontein Airport | Avro Lancastrian | L.R. Ambrose |
1951 | 1951-03-27 | Australia to South America[12] | Rose Bay, New South Wales to Valparaíso | Catalina | Patrick Gordon Taylor |
1983 | 1983-07-22 | Circumnavigation of Earth by helicopter, solo[13] | Fort Worth, Texas to Fort Worth, Texas, flying east | Bell 206B Jetranger III | Dick Smith |
1989 | 1989-08-17 | England to Australia, non-stop[14] | London Heathrow Airport to Sydney Airport | Boeing 747-438 | David Massey-Greene; George Lindeman |
1989 | 1989-11-11 | Circumnavigation of Earth, solo, female[15] | Sydney to Sydney, flying east | Piper Saratoga | Gaby Kennard |
1996 | 1996-05-19 | Space flight[16] | Kennedy Space Center to Shuttle Landing Facility, STS-77 | Space Shuttle Endeavour | Andrew Thomas |
2013 | 2013-09-07 | Circumnavigation of Earth, solo, teenager[17] | Wollongong to Wollongong, flying east | Cirrus SR22 | Ryan Campbell |
Year | Date | Event | Location | Machine | Aviator(s) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1858 | 1858-02-01 | Balloon flight[18] | Richmond, Victoria | "Australasian" Balloon | Joseph Dean |
1879 | 1879-04-14 | Parachute descent (of balloon and pilot)[19] | Melbourne | "Aurora" Balloon | Henri L'Estrange |
1888 | 1888-12-08 | Parachute descent[20] | Ashfield, New South Wales | "Gem" Balloon | J.T. Williams |
1894 | 1894-11-12 | Unpowered flight using heavier-than-air device (kites)[21] | Stanwell Park, New South Wales | Four box kites | Lawrence Hargrave |
1909 | 1909-12-05 | Flight of heavier-than-air machine (glider)[22] | Narrabeen, New South Wales | Taylor Biplane Glider | George Augustine Taylor |
1909 | 1909-12-09 | Powered flight of heavier-than-air machine[23] | Sydney | Wright Model A | Colin Defries |
1910 | 1910-07-16 | Flight of Australian-built plane[24] | Mia Mia, Victoria | Duigan pusher biplane | John Duigan |
1911 | 1911-12-05 | First airman to qualify as pilot in Australia (Licence No. 1)[25] | Sydney | Bristol Boxkite | William Ewart Hart |
1912 | 1912-08-06 | Military pilot[26] | England | Deperdussin monoplane | Henry Petre |
1914 | 1914-03-01 | Military flight[27] | Point Cook | Bristol Boxkite | Eric Harrison |
1914 | 1914-05-11 | Seaplane flight[28] | Sydney | Maurice Farman "hydro-aeroplane" | Maurice Guillaux |
1914 | 1914-07-18 | Air mail[29] | Melbourne to Sydney | Blériot XI | Maurice Guillaux |
1919 | 1919-08-06 | Air mail over-water flight (in Southern Hemisphere)[30] | Adelaide to Minlaton | Avro 504 | Harry Butler |
1919 | 1919-11-16 | Crossing of continent[31] | Melbourne to Port Darwin | B.E.2e | Henry Wrigley and Arthur Murphy |
1919 | 1919-12-16 | Bass Strait[32] | Stanley, Tasmania to Torquay, Victoria | Boulton Paul P.9 | Arthur L. Long |
1924 | 1924-05-19 | Circumnavigation of continent[33] | Point Cook, Victoria to St Kilda, Victoria, anti-clockwise | Fairey III floatplane | Ivor McIntyre, Stanley Goble |
1928 | 1928-05-17 | Royal Flying Doctor Service[34] | Cloncurry, Queensland to Julia Creek, Queensland | de Havilland DH.50 | Arthur Affleck |
1934 | 1934-10-01 | Autogyro flight[35] | Essendon Aerodrome | Cierva | Douglas Robertson |
1937 | 1937-11-21 | Parachute descent by female[36] | Essendon | Airco DH.4 | Jean Burns |
Year | Date | State | Event | Location | Machine | Aviator(s) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1910 | 1910-03-12/3 | SA | First flight in South Australia[37] | Bolivar, South Australia | Bleriot monoplane | Carl William 'Bill' Wittber |
1910 | 1910-03-17 | SA | First controlled flight in South Australia[38] | Bolivar, South Australia | Bleriot monoplane | Fred Custance |
1910 | 1910-03-18 | Vic | Flight at Diggers Rest[38] | Diggers Rest, Victoria | Voisin biplane | Harry Houdini |
1911 | 1911-04-18 | NSW | Flight at Sydney Airport (site)[39] | Sydney Airport | Bristol Boxkite | Joseph Joel Hammond |
1931 | 1931-04-01 | NSW | Flight at Lord Howe Island[40] | Lord Howe Island | Gypsy Moth seaplane | Francis Chichester |